NCJ Number
140598
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 40 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1992) Pages: 82-85
Editor(s)
B Cameron
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
State, local, and Federal law enforcement agencies joined forces in Massachusetts in a 10-week fugitive sweep in October 1991 and, using an increasingly important law enforcement tool, instant photography, apprehended over 600 of the State's most wanted fugitives.
Abstract
Two programs, which had been planned independently, coincided, allowing authorities to maximize opportunities for cooperation. The Massachusetts State Police Special Service Section Violent Fugitive Arrest Squad (VFAS) was preparing to initiated its Fugitive Arrest Strike Team (FAST), aimed at individuals wanted on outstanding felony warrants for murder, armed robbery, firearms violations, felony assault, narcotics offenses, and rape. Teams of four officers would work in each of five cities in the Boston metropolitan area, tracking those offenders with the most recent violent felony warrants, those with parole violation felony warrants, and prison escapees. Simultaneously, the U.S. Marshals Service planned its own fugitive strike, Operation Sunrise, to be implemented in Boston, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Miami. These two operations were coordinated, and while much intelligence was exchanged between agencies, the most useful was the instant photos taken of each fugitive that was apprehended. The instant photography played a supporting role in planning and managing the operation, when locating fugitives at third-party residences, in identifying fugitives when no other recent photos were available, and in documenting arrests and evidence at the arrest sites.